To a small audience of the susceptible and curious, Clement Harcombe and his son Timothy perform acts of healing through contact with the spirits of the dead For Timothy, motherless with extraordinary psychic gifts, it is an unorthodox but secure apprenticeship for others it is a wayward existence with a suspect parent, and he is removed to the security of his grandparents' home Wandering in his world of literary visions, Timothy comes to understand the power of the author over his characters, the painter over what is perceived and the composer over what is heard a most unusual education